Delta to celebrate Earth Day with carbon neutrality

If you won't be celebrating Earth Day with us at UGA because you're traveling via air, take advantage of this opportunity to go green with Delta.

According to an e-mail sent to its SkyMiles members, Delta will partner with The Conservation Fund to "match all carbon offset donations made via delta.com during the month of April."

When you contribute to its Go Zero program, The Conservation Fund plants trees to offset carbon emissions resulting from your flight. So if you participate in Delta's matching program, they'll plant double the trees!

According to The Conservation Fund information on the Delta site:

• A contribution of $5.50, which results in the planting of one tree "in a protected park or national wildlife refuge," will offset carbon emissions from your roundtrip flight of approximately 1,320 miles.

So if you fly Delta this month, practice carbon neutrality and plant two trees for only $5.50.

Neither paper nor plastic: cute t-shirt grocery bag

To avoid using disposable bags that are thrown away after one or two uses, many eco-conscious consumers have started bringing their own reusable bags grocery shopping. Several stores, such as Kroger, Publix and Earth Fare sell sturdy reusable bags for a nominal price.

However, you don't need cash to bring your own bag. With an old t-shirt, some scissors, a needle and some thread, you can make your own reusable grocery bag. Not only is this bag sustainable because it's used over and over, but it saves a t-shirt from going in the trash!

This week at Tate Plaza, an Environmental Health Sciences class distributed t-shirt grocery bags that they had made. They gave me a pink one that says, "It's not easy being a princess." With each bag they included instructions on how to make your own, which I'm including below.

1) Turn t-shirt inside out.

2) Sew bottom together 12" below bottom of sleeves.

3) Sew a second seam close to the first one to reinforce the bottom of the bag.

4) Cut excess t-shirt off.

5) Turn t-shirt right side out.

6) Cut sleeves off just outside of seam (to prevent fraying)

7) Cut neck out in a square shape large enough to fit items in but be sure to leave enough fabric for handles.

8) Use and enjoy!

Reduce Consumption (and Embarrassment).

The first step towards sustainability is reducing our consumption. Continuing our Power of One campaign, we are proud to debut our first public service announcement focusing on the impact a single individual can have when it comes to conserving valuable resources.

By turning a computer off or placing it in "sleep mode" instead of using a screensaver, an individual can reduce carbon emissions by more than 80%.

Don't Forget: "The Power of One" Sustainability Forum

Come out to the SLC Wednesday, March 19 at 6:00 p.m. in Room 171 to learn more about how you can help the environment and the small efforts that each of us can make to impact our environment. Here's a brief look at each of the three panelists:

Christina Faust
University of Georgia Student and Ecology Club President
During her sophomore year, Christina organized an entire recycling initiative on her own in a campus residence hall, Soule Hall. She mobilized residents to incorporate recycling into their daily routines, and spawned attention from other residence halls and various campus organizations. Her efforts continue to influence programs and policies at UGA. She was active in the Tate II LEED Certification initiative back as plans were being drawn up for the building, and continues to promote environmental sustainability on campus.


Richard C. Field
Athens-Clarke County Environmental Coordinator
Richard C. (Dick) Field's position was created in 2003 to tackle a lack of consistency and completeness in addressing local environmental issues. Dick came to this position after a 30-year professional career split between forestry research and continuing education with the USDA Forest Service and the University of Georgia. He has a B.S. degree in forestry from the University of Michigan and a Master of Forest Resources and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. He is a registered forester in Georgia and has served on numerous local committees and boards related to planning and natural resources. Dick is a LEED Accredited Professional and served on the Board of the US Green Building Council’s Atlanta Chapter. He initiated the LEED program in Athens-Clarke County, which has two Certified buildings and seven more registered projects. He also serves on ACC’s Energy Conservation and Water Conservation Committees.


Jim Hackler
Freelance Writer on Green Living
Jim Hackler is a nationally recognized expert in communicating the benefits of green living and home construction in an accessible and understandable way. As the former head of two of the country’s leading green building initiatives, U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes and the Southeast’s EarthCraft House program, Jim had a first hand experience on what it means to live and go green to help the environment. Not only does Jim have experience with green building projects, but he also has spent time working for CNN, as well as a featured contributor to Green Builder, Delta Sky and Natural Home magazines, where he has written stories about corporations becoming green entities. He’s been called on to help communicate the “green” message in hundreds of other publications, television programs, national conferences and workshops.

"Re-use it or Lose it!"

How would you like to win $5,000 just for having a green, I mean great, idea? Well now is your chance because Planet Smoothie has decided to award one lucky person $5K and free smoothies for a year to come up with the most sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to recycling or eliminating polystyrene ("re-use it or lose it") from the waste stream. It could be an alternative cup material that easily breaks down or a method of re-using polystyrene cups (insulation for arctic gear, perhaps?).

Even though Polystyrene is an excellent recycled material, it is not the easiest and most energy-efficient to recycle when you're done with it. Planet Smoothie currently uses polystyrene for its containers or offers a re-usable container, Mac Daddy Mug, to keep their products cold. However, Planet Smoothie does not like the environmental effects of polystyrene, so they've launched this contest in search of a solution.

All solutions are due by September 30, 2008.

To be considered, submissions must include the following:

1.) Name, affiliation (if applicable), mailing address, email, age (you must be at least 18), contact information

2.) 250-word description of your proposed solution and why you think it's a solution to polystyrene (without disclosing future patent secrets)

3.) A photo of you with your solution.

You can view all the contest guidelines and apply online at Planet Smoothie's official contestant Web site.